Recap: Celtics 98, Jazz 93

No words are needed.

The Boston Celtics won their third consecutive game on Wednesday night in a 98-93 victory of the Utah Jazz. After a ho-hum first half for both teams, the lead swayed back and forth throughout the second half, and the Celtics eventually took care of business. As Jason Terry put it, "We're a veteran ball club," said C's guard Jason Terry. "We thrive in situations where it's a tight ball game. We've all been in that situation plenty of times. We know what we have to do to close games out."

Here's a recap:


The good:

* In what I thought was the most encouraging sign of the night, Jeff Green finally made his way back to earth and onto the basketball court. All kidding aside, Green had his best performance of the season, scoring 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting with 4 rebounds and 2 assists in just over 27 minutes. He also provided the highlight of the night: a posterizing dunk on old friend Al Jefferson. I believe this was the turning point in the game. This woke up the crowd, the bench, and got everyone fired up. Hopefully, this play was the breakout moment we've all been waiting. Here's to hoping Green can be the guy we all think he can be.

* If Leandro Barbosa was not on this team, then they would not have won tonight. When he checked in at the start of the second quarter, he instantly made an impact, scoring 7 points in under 3 minutes. He finished with 16 points. Doc Rivers liked what he saw as well, "He was terrific, he bailed us out."

* And the streak continues. After not tallying a single assist in the first 10 minutes of his outing, Rondo miraculously compiled 10 assists in the next 3 minutes. He finished with 25:11 of action. In a word: incredible. It was his 32nd-straight game of at least 10 assists. John Stockton is right in front of him.

* After only scoring 5 points in the first half, Paul Pierce erupted in the second half, and particularly in the third quarter. He scored 16 points in the third quarter and finished with a team-high 23. The Celtics made a concerted effort to get Pierce involved to start the second half, and man did that work out.


The bad:

* The worst news of this game is the health of Rajon Rondo. Around the 5:00 minute mark in the third quarter, Rondo rolled his right ankle on a drive to the hoop. He left the game, went back to the locker room with trainer Ed Lacerte, and returned to the bench near the end of the quarter. Rondo did not return to the game, which would seem to be a concern. When asked if Rondo would play tomorrow against the Nets, Doc Rivers responded, "I have no idea. With sprained ankles, tomorrow you'll know more." Not very reassuring words from Doc. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

* The rebounding was a good thing... for the Utah Jazz. They totally dominated the Celtics on the boards, 48-33 overall. They also killed Boston on the offensive glass 18-4. To put this whole rebounding problem into perspective, Al Jeffeson, Paul Millsap, and Derrick Favors combined for more rebounds than the entire Celtics team. That's right, three guys had more rebounds than the ENTIRE TEAM. Coming into tonight's action, the Celtics were dead last in rebounds per game while the Jazz were fourth in the league, and tonight did nothing to disprove that. Weak-side rebounding was a major problem throughout the game, and the three aforementioned Jazz players had a lot to do with that. And considering the size of the frontline of the Nets, the Celtics need to address that issue in a hurry.

* Bench scoring, anyone? 47-25 in favor of your Boston Celtics. That's what we thought we'd see out of this bench. Bravo, bravo.

Miscellaneous:

* When Jeff Green was issued a technical foul for taunting Al Jefferson after his emphatic dunk, Kevin Garnett was seen talking to Green and repeatedly saying, "That's O.K, that's O.K." Great stuff as always from KG.

* The Utah Jazz are a good basketball team. This was a good test for this Celtics team. They were 4-4 coming into tonight, but with the way they are currently constructed, they can definitely be a playoff team. Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson are great cornerstone players, and the additions of Mo and Marvin Williams -- no relation there -- along with Randy Foye. Having Derrick Favors coming off the bench is a pretty good option to have; the kid is going to be a phenomenal player. They're a solid team with a tremendous future.

* It was clear that Doc Rivers was trying his best to limit the minutes of Garnett, Pierce, and Rondo as best as he possibly could. The team has to travel to Brooklyn to play the Nets on Thursday, come back home and play the Raptors at 12:30 on Saturday, and then go to Detroit for a matchup on Sunday night.  Pierce and Garnett each tallied 29 minutes, so it looks like it was mission accomplished.

The green team is back at it later on tonight as they travel to the Barclays Center for their first matchup with the Brooklyn Nets.